Can Raw Vegetables Cause a Gallbladder Attack?

by Sharon Perkins

Raw vegetables can cause abdominal pain but not gallbladder disease.

As many as 25 million Americans have gallstones, which can cause gallbladder attacks characterized by pain on the upper right side of your abdomen, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Rapid weight loss can increase your risk of gallbladder attacks. If you eat raw vegetables to lose weight, you could develop gallbladder problems. But the weight loss, not the raw vegetables, causes the gallbladder disease. You can develop abdominal pain unrelated to your gallbladder after eating raw vegetables.

Gallbladder Function

Your gallbladder stores bile produced in the liver until your body needs it. Bile, a yellowish liquid, helps break down fats so you can absorb them. When you eat a meal containing fat, the gallbladder releases bile into the bile duct, where it travels to the small intestine. In the small intestine, bile mixes with chyme, the semi-solid food mass that exits the stomach. If gallstones form in the gallbladder, they can travel to the bile duct and get stuck, causing a backup of bile that causes pain as the gallbladder contracts to try and push it through. Inflammation can develop as the bile sits in the gallbladder.

Causes of Gallbladder Problems

Eating raw vegetables does not cause stones to form in the gallbladder. Common dietary causes of stone formation include a diet high in fat, being overweight, being female and taking certain medications, including some medications used to treat high cholesterol and hormone replacement therapy. Other risk factors for developing gallstones include weight cycling -- rapid weight loss followed by weight gain.

Rapid Weight Loss Effects

As many as 90 percent of people with gallstones have no symptoms. However, if you have rapidly lost and then regained weight, you have a 33 percent chance of having symptoms, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. You have the highest risk if you lost more than 24 percent of your body weight, if you followed a low-calorie, low-fat diet and if you lost more than 3.3 pounds per week. You have a 12 percent risk of developing gallstones within eight to 16 weeks after losing weight rapidly, UMMC adds. If you ate a large amount of raw vegetables to lose weight, it might seem like the raw vegetables caused the gallstones to form. But the rapid weight loss, along with low fat and calorie intake, is more likely the cause.

Raw Vegetables and Abdominal Pain

You might develop abdominal pain after eating raw vegetables from causes other than a gallbladder attack. Consuming large amounts of fiber, found in abundance in most raw vegetables, can cause abdominal pain, cramping, gas and bloating if your intestines aren't used to it. Fiber, the indigestible part of a plant, forms a bulky mass that moves the stool through the intestine. Increase your fiber intake slowly to prevent abdominal symptoms, increasing the amount over several weeks, MayoClinic.com suggests. Salmonella, E. coli and other bacteria can also lurk on raw vegetables, causing gastrointestinal symptoms if you don't wash produce well before eating it.

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About the Author

A registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience in oncology, labor/delivery, neonatal intensive care, infertility and ophthalmology, Sharon Perkins has also coauthored and edited numerous health books for the Wiley "Dummies" series. Perkins also has extensive experience working in home health with medically fragile pediatric patients.

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